Supporting Courageous Athletes

An Interview with Ron C. Peck

By: Celine Todd
Published January 22, 2008

I recently had the opportunity to interview Ron C. Peck, a member of Trilogy at Redmond Ridge, about his involvement with an amazing organization called the Blind Judo Foundation. Read on to discover the worthwhile work being done by this nonprofit organization, as well as how you can get involved in supporting some courageous young athletes.

What is your personal background with the sport of Judo, and how did you first learn about Judo for the visually impaired?

While in college, I was introduced to the sport of Judo. Though I wasn’t overly successful in the sport, I enjoyed the training and discipline. Years later, I was reintroduced to martial arts, but this time Tae Kwon Do. I trained under a Korean world master six days per week for almost four years.

I have always been an avid exercise buff, and several years ago I joined a gym in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is where I met a man named Willy Cahill. After seeing Willy at the gym each day, I noticed at one point that he had been away for several days. When he returned to the gym, I asked him where he had been.

Willy told me that he was coaching a judo team that had a tournament in Las Vegas. He went on to provide more information about the team and their many successes, but the real punch line came when he told me that each of his team members was blind or visually impaired. I was not only emotionally touched by this, but also quite surprised. I was unaware of blind and visually impaired individuals participating in the sport of Judo. It was difficult for me to imagine doing Judo being blind or visually impaired, as sight and feel are two key ingredients in learning this sport

What is Coach Cahill’s background with the sport of Judo? How did he become involved with coaching the blind and visually impaired?

Willy Cahill was born into a family that was passionate about the sport of Judo. His father, John Cahill Sr., was a martial arts instructor whose life-long goal was to get one of his students to the Olympics. Unfortunately, he passed away at age 50 and never realized his dream. But by then his son, Willy, was gaining the skills needed to lead Cahill’s Judo Academy in the San Francisco Bay area. He dedicated the Academy to his mother and father.

Willy Cahill continued to hone his skills, and later became the Head Judo Coach at Stanford University and at SF State University. He was the Head Judo Coach for the US Junior Pan American Championships, and was awarded Judo Instructor of the Year by the Black Belt Hall of Fame. To date, Coach Cahill has created over 1,200 national and international champions. Seventy-five percent of all the medals won at the Olympic or Paralympic level in Judo have been won under his coaching leadership.

Coach Cahill was asked by the US Olympic Committee (USOC) to accept the position as the Olympic Judo Coach in 1984. He did well with the US Team but was never able to obtain the gold. In 1999, the same USOC asked Coach Cahill to train and coach the US Paralympic Judo team in preparation for the 2000 Games in Sydney. In Sydney, the team won two gold, one silver, and one bronze Medal. Since 1964, when Judo was first introduced at the Olympics, the only American athletes that have ever won gold were on the US Paralympic Judo Team. This still stands today, as we prepare to represent America at the 2008 Games in Beijing.

What inspired you to create the Blind Judo Foundation?

Shortly after I learned about Coach Cahill’s involvement with visually impaired athletes in the sport of Judo, I was finishing up course work with Landmark Education and their Self Expression Leadership Program (SELP). One of my assignments for this course was to create something worthy from scratch and then give it away. This is where the seed for creating an organization introducing blind and visually impaired young adults to the sport of Judo was first planted.

The athletes working with Cahill are considered Paralympians. I inquired about the support America gives to these athletes representing the USA domestically and internationally. After checking with the US Olympic Committee, US Association of Blind Athletes, USA Judo, and other organizations, the results were very disappointing. I learned that Paralympic athletes don’t get the same financial support as the Olympians, even though they must meet the same standards of excellence. The saying “Find a Need and Fill It” sprang forth in my head and inspired me to create The Blind Judo Foundation.

After officially establishing the Blind Judo Foundation, I realized that I had to then take the next step of “giving it away.” Since Willy Cahill was a world-renowned leader in martial arts, a personal friend, and an Olympic Judo Coach, who would be more qualified to receive this project? Coach Cahill accepted the CEO & Co-Founder position, and I stayed on as the CFO & Co-Founder of The Blind Judo Foundation. This was considered an acceptable “give away;” I was able to complete my coursework.

What is it about the sport of Judo that has such an impact on the lives of these young adults?

The tenets of Judo are not about what color belt one has or what trophies, medals, or awards one has won. Judo is about building confidence, character, citizenship, respect, and responsibility. It is about creating a level playing field in life.

These athletes have grown up being perceived as “different.” Often times, because of their differences, others won’t take the time to get to know them and understand their situation. Judo erases all prejudices and biases. Everyone is equal at the Dojo (Judo gym) and on the mat. Many times we will put blind athletes against sighted athletes. Some have asked if this is “cruel”; we respond that it is only cruel to the sighted athlete. The blind and visually impaired students of Judo are very adept in “reading” others through sound and body movements to compensate for the differences. It’s a sight to see.

Would you share with us one of the success stories of the Blind Judo Foundation?

One story that immediately comes to mind is of an athlete named Lori. Lori was born premature and was given too much oxygen at birth, wiping out her eyesight. When her biological mother heard about her daughter’s blindness, she refused to return to the hospital to take her new baby home. She considered her to be “defective.”

Lori was adopted by a family with 7 kids, who loved and cherished her as their own. When Lori was young, her classmates thought it was “cool” to hang around the “blind kid”. However, as her friends got older, their attitudes changed. They would take Lori to the park or playground and ditch her, leaving her to find her own way home.

At age 16, Lori was asked if she would like to try out for Judo. She accepted and started training under Coach Cahill. Do to her natural talent in the sport, she qualified to represent the US in the World Cup Judo Championships in Rome, Italy, at the age of 17. She won gold for America and qualified for the 2004 Olympic/Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece, where she took home a Silver medal for the US Paralympic team at the age of 19. Lori’s parents have told Coach Cahill and me that we’ve “changed their daughter’s life”.

Lori is now in college, where she recently received 3 A’s and 2 B’s and has a boyfriend. Despite her busy college schedule, Lori continues to train in the sport of Judo. This is just one of many stories of success from these individuals who have made Judo a part of their lives.

How can your fellow Trilogy members help to support these incredible young athletes?

Paralympic athletes do not get the same financial support as Olympic athletes, despite the fact that they are guided by the same US Olympic Committee and are held to the same standards. Many people confuse the Special Olympics and the Paralympics, although the two are completely separate events with very different objectives. The Special Olympics provides an opportunity for athletes with mental and cognitive impairments to compete in an event whose focus is on participation. Paralympic athletes, on the other hand, are elite competitors with physical disabilities who must qualify for their competitions along similar guidelines as their Olympic counterparts. Most Americans know of the Olympics, and even the Special Olympics, but few know about the Paralympics.

Since "America doesn’t support its athletes, but Americans do”, The Blind Judo Foundation was formed to raise awareness about these courageous athletes. We seek sponsors to fund programs that will introduce the sport of judo to the blind and visually impaired in communities across America. We also raise funds to cover the costs of competing in national tournaments and world competitions, such as the Paralympics.

In preparation for the World Cup Championships and Games in Brazil (August 2007), it cost $48,000 to hold two camps for the athletes that were preparing to represent America on the world stage in Brazil. Most of the financial support came from the staff of The Blind Judo Foundation, including Coach Cahill and myself. If these athletes representing America where regular Olympians, not Paralympians, all financial support would have been provided.

The Blind Judo Foundation is recognized by the IRS as a 501 (c) (3) corporation, and any donations are tax deductible. Currently, no one at the foundation receives a salary, so the majority of the money goes directly to supporting the athletes, including travel expenses, transportation, camp & tournament fees, memberships, etc.

We are seeking financial donations which can be made online on our website www.blindjudofoundation.org, or by contacting me at roncpeck@earthlink.net or 425-444-8256.

Thank you for sharing your experiences with the Blind Judo Foundation with us, Ron. We will all be excited to hear about the success of Coach Cahill’s talented team of athletes at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing.